salvatio

Forms

salvātiō f (genitive salvātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin salvō (“to save”) + -tiō.^[1][2][3] The verb is formed from salvus (“safe, secure”),^[4] which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *slH-u- (“whole”).^[5] In Church Latin the noun translated Ancient Greek σωτηρία (sōtēría).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Conte's earliest example, meaning salvation, is from Cyprian's Testimonia.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

It is a Christian word: in the Vulgate it means deliverance or salvation,^[8][2] and in Ecclesiastical Latin generally the act of saving.^[9] Boethius also uses it.^[8]

Medieval Latin kept eternal salvation as the main sense but also used the word for happiness and welfare, safety, protection, a fence, and the inviolability of a place with right of asylum, and then for such a place itself (French sauveté).^[10][11] In British sources it also meant the rescue of a life, salvage at sea, and in law the saving of a day.^[12] English salvation (c. 1200, first in the Christian sense) comes from it, partly through Old French.^[6]

Timeline

• 3rd century AD – Cyprian uses it for salvation.^[7][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Joel and the Psalms.^[8][4]
• first third of the 8th century – Bede uses it of a rescue remembered with the Passover lamb.^[12][4]
• c. 1200 – English borrows it as savacioun in the Christian sense.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Deliverance, salvation.^[8][9][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Happiness, welfare.^[10]
3. (Medieval Latin) Safety, protection.^[10]
4. (Medieval Latin) A fence.^[10]
5. (Medieval Latin) The right of asylum of a place; a place that enjoys it.^[10][11]
6. (Medieval Latin) A rescue;^[12] (nautical) salvage.^[12]

Related words

• English salvation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
12. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press